Football games before the first of September? It’s a first for me in my 18 seasons covering local football, and maybe a first for our six area football teams as well.

Two of our clubs are in action tonight, and third – Unadilla Valley – was supposed to play, but will have a to wait another week before it officially steps on field. More on that in a moment.

Exactly half of those six aforementioned teams made the playoffs last season, and aspirations are high again. Norwich is in the midst of three straight Class B playoff berths; Greene seems to be a regular playoff contender these days in Class C, and Bainbridge-Guilford won its first Section IV playoff game a season ago. Others such as Oxford and Sherburne-Earlville were in the playoff hunt until the final weeks of the season.

I know just about every local football fan is as eager for the season to start as I am, so without further delay, let’s look at this week’s slate of games:

Norwich at Union-Endicott, Saturday, 7 p.m.